


Mirror, Mirror

by galaxysoup



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Community: writerinadrawer, WriterInADrawer 4.06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-12
Updated: 2010-07-12
Packaged: 2017-10-10 12:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/99844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxysoup/pseuds/galaxysoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after the tea-boy went mad and tried to kill them all, Owen turned off his alarm and debated ever going to work again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror, Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Writer in a Drawer round 4.06. The prompts were:
> 
> Prompt: "Into the Woods" - One or more members of Torchwood is lost in the wilderness overnight with exactly 7 items   
>  in their pockets/bags. What are they doing out there, how do they make it through the night?*  
>  Added Element: A woodland creature (native to whatever 'woods' you decide to drop them in)  
>  Word Count: 700
> 
> The challenge's home is here, if you're curious: http://community.livejournal.com/writerinadrawer.

The day after the tea-boy went mad and tried to kill them all, Owen turned off his alarm and debated ever going to work again.

It only took an hour for Jack to ring him.

"I faced death yesterday," Owen said reasonably. "I deserve a day off to restore my damaged psyche."

"Don't you want to make sure she's dead?" Jack said nastily.

"Go lick an electrical socket," Owen said petulantly, and well after Jack had hung up, because of course he hadn't done the autopsy yet and the damned creature probably had a reboot. Knowing their luck, it had already broken into the cells and started upgrading Weevils.

As soon as he got to the Hub, however, the autopsy was shelved in favour of getting the pterodactyl to shut up.

"She's been keening all morning," Tosh said as he leaned against her desk and played with her Rift-junk paperweight. "I think eating - I think she's got indigestion."

They shared a look of mutual revulsion.

"Oh, poor thing," Gwen murmured.

They shared a look of mutual disbelief.

"Owen! Glad you made it," Jack interrupted, tossing a scanner at Owen's head. "I need you to go to Ianto's and scan him for Cybertech."

"That's Tosh's job!"

"Tosh is busy," Jack said pleasantly. "Go, I'll handle the autopsy."

Vengefully, Owen stole Tosh's paperweight before he left.

* * *

He spent most of the drive thinking unkind thoughts about Jack. Kicking in Ianto's door _did_ help a little.

"What?" Ianto started up from where he'd been sitting with a photograph and a bottle of something alcoholic. "_Goddamn it_ \- "

"Got to scan you for Cybertech, tea-boy," Owen said, more than willing to share his foul mood.

Ianto didn't look annoyed, though, damn him. Instead, he was staring.

"Why is your pocket glowing?" he asked warily.

Owen had just enough time to pull Tosh's stupid Rift-junk paperweight out of his pocket, and then Ianto's apartment faded in a sickening and entirely unnecessary swirl of colors.

* * *

Owen landed hard and vomited spectacularly. Nearby he could hear Ianto following suit.

Groaning, he pushed himself upright and looked around. "Woods. Bloody fantastic." They looked like they were possibly Earth-based, but that was all that could be said for them. He tapped his comm.

Nothing. No mobile reception, either. Fucking lovely.

"Anything _useful_ in your pockets?" Ianto ground out.

"Tell you what," Owen said sweetly. He bundled up the stupid paperweight, the scanner, the useless mobile and comm and, as an afterthought, the penknife from his keychain, and dumped them all in Ianto's lap. "You take these, and _you_ figure it out. You're obviously good at machinery." He grabbed the bottle of alcohol and sat himself against a nearby tree.

"Go fuck yourself," Ianto said, voice choked with hate. "What makes you think I'd ever help _you_?"

"You want to watch Jack die, right?" Owen said absently, taking a swig of alcohol. "Can't watch Jack die here. Better get cracking."

It took a while but eventually Ianto started to work, shooting baleful looks in Owen's direction. Owen drank, and wistfully imagined Ianto getting mauled by a badger.

By the time Owen had polished off the alcohol, Ianto had constructed something effective and gotten a message to Tosh.

"She says we're in Scotland. They'll come get us, but it'll be a while."

Owen rolled his eyes. "You built a girlfriend, I assumed you could build a phone. What do you want, a biscuit?"

Ianto's face darkened. "I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand anything as complex as a relationship."

"You think you're so smart," Owen snarled. "Your girlfriend's _dead_!"

"At least I'm capable of having one!"

Owen punched him. "You don't know _anything_!"

Ianto stared up at him in shock. "You too?" he asked, stunned.

"_You don't know anything_," Owen hissed.

Ianto watched him storm away.

* * *

Team Torchwood found them the next morning, hungover and silent, staring at each other across the clearing.

"Nice black eye," Gwen whistled, inspecting Ianto's face.

"Rough landing," Ianto said, not looking at Owen.

Tosh cornered Owen by the SUV holding the comm-mobile-scanner-paperweight-mashup. "This is really impressive, Owen," she said.

"I made Ianto do it," Owen said dismissively.

The ride home was silent.


End file.
